Being Strong
by daily-chan
Summary: “somebody!...please!” The screams echoed in her mind as tears gathered in her eyes, even as she refused to give in to them. Sasunaru from Sakura's pov. Dark fic. Warnings inside
1. Chapter 1

Being strong

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters._

_Rating: Teenager/Mature for contents_

_Warnings: OOC-ness, violence, swearing, rape, character death. __**This takes place in a time and space where they don't have ninja powers, in our time. This is an unbeta'd story sorry.**_

_Still on writers block T-T_

_Pairing: Sasunaru_

**For Daniël ****And ****Nicky **

**I hope the two of you found peace together**

epilogue

_The night was pitch-black and chilly as a young girl stood silently on the side way as she stared at the street in front of her. Dark clouds had gathered in front of the moon a long time ago as if they had been trying to prevent it from shining its innocent light upon the girl and her surroundings._

_People slammed into her as they passed her, trying to get inside as thick raindrops started to fall down slowly. She shivered at the contact and a wave of screaming voices flashed through her ears, even if the screams long since echoed away._

_Her eyes were fixed upon a single spot on the street and even though the dark clouds prevented her from seeing the actual spot she didn't need her vision, as the place was burned into her memory forever._

_The clouds seemed to feel her broken mind as thunder clashed through the air and the occasional raindrops changed into a shower as the heavens opened._

_But she didn't move a muscle as her clothes were soaked; her mind was already numb as it was._

_Through her mind ran a million of thoughts, all starting with "if only"_

_If only she had said no then maybe none of it would have happened._

_She knew it was an irrational thought, but she still couldn't help thinking that way as the thought crossed her mind again and again._

_As an ambulance quietly drove by her a vision of emergency lights flashed before her eyes and the screaming she heard increased, making cold sweat run down her back from the intensity of the sound, even as it was only in her memory._

_The smell of blood filled her nose and she choked on the sudden nausea rushing up from her stomach and filled her mouth at the mere sense of it. She forced the feeling down as her eyes were unable to leave the street in front of her even as there was nothing visible there anymore._

"_somebody!...please!" The screams echoed in her mind as tears gathered in her eyes, even as she refused to give in to them._

_Not wanting to give in to the desperation and realize how useless she had been, how helpless…….._


	2. Being Strong

**The story**

"Sakura-chan!" The voice calling her attention was so familiar she didn't even have to look out of the window to know who it was that was calling her. She smiled as she closed the book she had been trying to read and leaned slightly to her left so she was leaning out of the window frame she was sitting comfortable in.

"Naruto, what brings you here?" She asked friendly as she looked at her blond haired friend who was looking up to her with a bright smile.

"We're here for a drink….will you join us?" He asked as he waved his right hand behind him and as she followed the gesture she saw Sasuke standing there. She nodded to him as he raised his hand with a small smile and she turned her attention back to Naruto.

"Yeah sure, give me a moment." She said with a smile as she moved from the window and grabbed her coat while running downstairs.

She didn't bother leaving a note for her mother as she was never home anyway and closed the door behind her.

Naruto and Sasuke were standing near the door already waiting for her and Naruto smiled brightly to her as she closed the door behind her.

"So where did you want to go?" She asked as she answered his smile.

"How about that little place just outside of the town."

Sakura nodded.

"It's a nice place." She agreed as they started walking. She pulled her coat close to herself as it was still pretty chilly.

"Are you cold Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked at her with worry in his cerulean eyes. She smiled as she shrugged.

"I'm dressed warmer then you are." She commented and he laughed as he looked down at his own thin jacket.

"I told him to dress warmer before we left, but he didn't listen." Sasuke said with a shake of his head and Naruto shrugged.

"Nah, I'm not cold. Besides, if I do get cold the two of you can warm me up." He said teasingly, making both Sakura and Sasuke laugh.

"Sure but I think I'll leave that one to Sasuke-kun." She teased him back and Sasuke smirked as Naruto blushed.

They went to the little café at the end of town, enjoying themselves in light conversation and teasing while they had a drink and ended up ordering something to eat too.

"It's getting dark." Sasuke noted several hours later and as both Sakura and Naruto looked up to the sky they nodded. "Looks like storm is coming."

"I guess that's our cue to go home then?" Naruto asked as he looked at them with a small pout, not really wanting to leave yet.

"It is, we could always go to our house and watch a movie."

"But what about Sakura-chan? I don't want to say goodbye this soon."

Sakura chuckled. "My mother isn't home tonight so I can stay with you guys if you'd like."

"That's awesome!" Naruto exclaimed with a happy grin and Sakura laughed.

"Idiot." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto stuck out his tongue to him with a smile before he stood up and gave Sakura her coat so they could leave.

Sasuke hadn't been kidding when he said storm was on its way as dark clouds were slowly gathering.

"How did the weather change so suddenly?" Naruto asked as he pulled his jacket closer, the wind having picked up a little.

"I didn't pay attention to the weather forecast so I'm not sure sorry." Sakura said apologizing.

Both boys looked at her in shock and she blinked.

"What?"

"You always check the weather report." Naruto said dully and Sakura laughed.

"Yeah….guess that's true…I just didn't do so today."

"Hn." Sasuke said with a small shake of his head and Naruto chuckled.

"Let's just go shall we?" He asked as he took Sasuke's hand with his own. Sasuke looked at him with a small smile and placed a kiss on his forehead as he entangled their fingers.

"You're hands are cold." He said softly and Naruto smiled.

"That's not bad; yours are warm enough for both of us so I'll just warm them up on your hands." Sakura chuckled as Sasuke rolled with his eyes.

"Idiot." He said and Naruto smiled, not at all offended by the words.

"Do you want my coat?" He asked but Naruto shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. I'm not cold." He answered with a smile and grabbed Sakura's hand with his other.

"Come here." He ordered and curious Sakura let herself be pulled closer to Naruto.

"What is it?"

"Now your hands will be warmer to. And now we'll actually know where you are." He said with a bright smile and Sakura laughed.

"Thanks." She looked at him to realize he hadn't meant it as a joke. Her vision at night wasn't very great and it was very dark right now due to the suddenly changed weather. She had a hard time seeing even Naruto and Sasuke as most of the lanterns were defect on the street.

In a comfortable pace they walked down the streets when Sakura felt a cold shiver on her back for no reason. She glanced at Sasuke and Naruto to see Sasuke's face had changed from its relaxed look to an alert look.

"Sasuke?" She asked softly. Sasuke's black eyes looked at her before they glanced at Naruto who looked up to him.

"We're being followed aren't we?" Naruto asked softly and Sasuke nodded.

"Why would anyone follow us?" Sakura asked confused as Naruto and Sasuke let go of each other and Naruto pulled her a little closer to himself.

"I don't know but I want you two to stay close together. Naruto don't let Sakura out of your sight."

Naruto nodded as did Sakura as she felt a sudden fear wash over her. She had never seen Sasuke this tense before and from the way Naruto's fingers were digging into her arm she knew he too was tense.

"Keep walking...not to fast but fast enough to reach a more crowded area."

"Everything is deserted here in the evening." Sakura said softly as Naruto pulled her with him and held her hand tightly as they walked.

"And don't look over your shoulder either."

"Right." She said, aware that her voice stuttered a little and Naruto smiled slightly at her.

"Everything will be alright Sakura-chan. I won't let anything happening to you."

Sakura smiled a little as she nodded and squeezed his hand as they kept walking. Sasuke moved a little closer to Naruto's side as Sakura heard quick footsteps approach them.

Before she had time to react they were suddenly surrounded by a large group of guys.

Naruto pulled her between him and Sasuke immediately, trying to keep her out of immediate danger as he hissed under his breath.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked as the fear she had felt earlier came rushing back ten fold and her hands started shaking. It was to dark to make out the faces of the guys and somehow she felt more scared not being able to see what was happening.

Naruto squeezed her hand and held it tightly.

"Trouble. If you can, you must run. Don't look back at us, just get into safety."

"I'm not leaving you guys here alone." She protested.

"None of you is leaving here tonight." One of the boys suddenly said as he laughed. Sakura shivered as she heard his mean laugh.

"What do you want from us, we have no money. Can't you see from our clothes that we're poor?" Sasuke said as he had moved in front of both Sakura and Naruto, though it didn't really help much seeing as they were surrounded.

"We don't need your faggot money." One of the other boys sneered and suddenly Sakura's breathing stocked as she realized it was Sasuke and Naruto they were after. With a quick movement she pulled Naruto in front of her so he was shielded by both Sasuke and her and glared at the boys.

A few of the boys chuckled. "She thinks she can protect them, the little faggot friend."

"Sakura…" Naruto whispered but Sakura shook her head, her long hair falling over her face as she did.

"What the hell do you want from us?" Sasuke asked even though it was pretty oblivious they would probably try to beat them up.

"We have to teach you a lesson. You see….faggots are a big stain on this ground. Things that must be erased completely."

It was all the warning they got before Sakura suddenly felt something slamming into her, making her hand slip out of Naruto's and the air was knocked out her. She let out a pained yelp as rough hands grabbed her arms and pushed her to the ground roughly, twisting her arms at her back as someone pushed her face against the hard street stones.

She tried to fight the guy holding her as she felt his hot stinking breath on her neck, but someone came to help him to hold her down.

She could hear screaming at both of her sides and could only guess Naruto and Sasuke had been separated by the group as she heard Sasuke scream Naruto's name. She fought with her attacker as she heard the screams, wanting desperately to help her friends when the screams disappeared and was replaces by a pained sobbing. She was only just barely able to hear Naruto's pleading sobs and desperately to get to him she tried to get lose from the iron grip the two guys were holding her in.

"Stay still or we'll have to do the same to you as to that other blond." One of the boys threatened.

Sakura stiffened completely as his words ran through her mind and she suddenly realized just exactly what she was hearing.

"Oh god no." She whispered as tears filled her eyes at Naruto's fate.

A fierce desperate determination took over her fear and suddenly she had broken lose from the iron grip and knocked the two guys to the ground.

She could hear voices yell at each other to keep her down but she couldn't see them as her eyes landed on Naruto.

He was being held down by six guys while a fifth was having his way with him. In a flash she could see that all of them had something hanging out of their pants, but she didn't want to guess what it was. With a desperate scream she threw herself into the guy attacking Naruto, slamming him and two others into the ground. Immediately she crawled up again and moved back to where Naruto was, desperate to try and protect him.

Naruto wasn't really conscious and from the glance Sakura dared to space him she could see he was covered in blood and white stuff that made her nauseous to see. She had no idea where Sasuke was or what had happened to him but she knew that if she let her mind wander they both would die right there and then.

"Naruto." She whispered but there didn't come a reply from the blond and she bit her lip not daring to move to his side as the guys she had knocked into the ground slowly moved up again too, the one that had been raping Naruto holding onto his arm that was clearly broken. She could see his face clearly in the slight light there.

His brown eyes were full of hatred and anger.

"Kill that fucking bitch!" He called as the other boys were more or less waiting for his orders, some of them having zipped up their pants again.

Sakura braced herself as four of the guys moved towards her and she screamed in anger and fear as she hit and kicked at the guys, managing to knock two of them down before the other two slammed her against the ground.

White hot pain shot through her ankle as she hit the ground and she let out a cry of pain.

"Shut up bitch!" One of the two yelled at her as he repeatedly kicked her in her stomach.

"You'll learn what happens to little whores that defend faggots."

The same voice said and she tried to move away from him as she realized what he meant as he grabbed at her jacket to rip it open. The material tore under the rough movement and her sweater was tightened around her throat, almost choking her. She coughed but couldn't move as the second guy had grabbed her hands and held them above her head in a tight grip as the guy that had tore her jacket unleashed his belt.

No! Her mind screamed as panic overtook the fear and anger she was feeling and she used her legs to kick him in the groin, making him fall to his knees. The second guy's grip faltered a little and she tore her hands lose as she moved away on both hands and feet and tried to move up again to defend herself. No fucking way she was going down without a fight. She had to protect Naruto, she had to.

She pushed back the pain that shot through her body from her ankle and moved back to Naruto's motionless body.

"The little whore's got guts." The guy she had kicked in his balls said as he remained sitting, his hand still over his groin and she suspected he was grinning.

From the corner of her eyes she saw someone passing in the distance.

"Help us!" She screamed but as the figure in the distance heard her he gave no indication as he walked on quickly.

Disbelief rushed through her as she realized no one would come to help them.

She backed up a little bit as the boys seemed to have recovered and moved to her again.

Sakura felt her heart beat in her throat and trembled like crazy as tears fell down her eyes.

"Awww…the little bitch is crying." The guy with the broken arm sneered at her.

"Shut the fuck up Justin, there is someone coming." One of the boys yelled at him.

"We'll just rip his head off too." The guy called Justin said with a smirk.

"Are you fucking insane, what if it's a cop? We've got to get out of here!"

"Fuck."

Sakura felt her breathing stock as the guys pulled at each other's coats and started backing off from them. Within seconds most of them were gone, only the guy named Justin remained standing where he was for another moment.

"I'll see you later bitch." He promised her but she found the treat didn't scare her as she supposed it should. He gave her one more glare before he too turned around and ran away.

The moment he ran Sakura's knees gave out from under her and she sank to the ground, breathing unsteadily. Every part of her body hurt but as she turned around she knew Naruto must be much worse.

She crawled over to him as quickly as she could and started to check him over. She pushed the semen soaked jacket away from his body, disgusted at its mere sight and winced as she saw the cuts on his stomach. But as she kneeled down in the blood beside him she couldn't find a wound that had caused that much blood to run out of him and her hands moved lower, trying to determine what wounds were the worse.

Naruto suddenly coughed weakly and made a choking sound. Sakura turned him onto his side as he vomited on the street, practically on her but she didn't even notice as she suddenly saw where all the blood was coming from.

"Oh god." She said as she tore her torn jacket out and pushed it between Naruto's legs, causing him to scream out in pain.

"I have to stop the bleeding….I have to stop it." She whispered, trying to make him understand why she was hurting him.

"Sasuke."

Naruto's whispered words made her breathing stock as she had blocked him out of her thought, having tried to protect Naruto. She kept pressing the jacket between Naruto's legs as she looked around and almost missed the dark form lying in a pool of dark blood.

"Oh god…Naruto, keep your legs closed…you need to keep that jacket in place understood?"

She asked but didn't wait for Naruto to answer as she moved up unsteadily and moved over to Sasuke, kneeling down in the large pool of blood that immediately mixed with the blood of Naruto that was on her pants.

He was completely unconscious and from the looks of it Sakura thought it was only better. His entire body was cut, blood streamed down his arms but to her relief she saw his pants weren't torn off like they were with Naruto.

She turned her attention back to his face and new tears threatened to fall down as she could quite literally see the side of his face was gone, completely ripped away.

"Oh god."

Most of the blood came from there and Sakura pulled her sweater out and carefully placed it against the side of his head, trying to apply pressure as blood gushing against her quickly soaked sweater. She could feel something jelly like against her fingertips and pressed her sweater harder against his face, not wanting to know what she felt, but knowing she couldn't let it come out.

She glanced back at where Naruto was lying and fear came over her again as he lied there so unprotected. She moved Sasuke to pull the remaining of his jacket from under him and wrapped it around her sweater and his head to try and form a made shift bandage.

The moment she was sure it would hold for a bit she moved back to Naruto and trying not to hurt him she pulled him to where Sasuke was lying so she could try to protect them if she had to.

Large rain drops started to fall as she pulled her long sleeved shirt out, not caring she only wore a tank top under it and laid it around Naruto to try and keep him warm, even if the material was soaked in blood already.

She checked if her jacket was still in place between his legs before returning to putting pressure to the made shift cloth at Sasuke's head.

She wasn't really aware that she was screamed for help as she tried to keep Sasuke alive, only shifting him onto his side as he started gurgling.

After what seemed like forever she could hear sirens close in on her quickly and bright flashing light blinded her eyes. Voices immediately surrounded her as men in yellow came running to her. Instinctively she lashed out to the men as they tried to touch Naruto, not able to recognize the paramedics as they tried to calm her down.

One of them placed a hand on her shoulder, making her stiffen, before he forced her to look up at him. She looked into the brown eyes of the paramedic, much kinder then that of that boy and looked at his mouth as he spoke, the words not really coming through.

He nodded as she shook his head at him and tapped her shoulder before he pointed at his co workers.

"They'll help your friends. You have to let go of them."

Sakura slowly nodded as she understood and slowly stopped pushing against Sasuke's head as the paramedic pulled her onto her feet.

He seated her on the couch in one of the ambulances and wrapped a blanket around her.

"What's your name?" He asked as he checked her over. She didn't stop him as her eyes moved back to her two friends as the paramedics were working on them.

"Sakura…what are they doing to them?" She asked.

"They are trying to stabilize your friends so we can transport them to the hospital. You did a great job Sakura."

"I was completely useless. I couldn't protect Naruto…and I didn't know where Sasuke was."

The paramedic shook his head.

"Your bandages are what keep them alive right now. Without you the blond boy would have bled out."

Sakura shook her head but didn't argue as Naruto was moved onto a stretcher and into her ambulance.

"Where are they taking Sasuke?" She asked with panic in her voice as she saw them take Sasuke out of her view.

"He's being loaded into the other ambulance. You'll see him in the hospital again." The paramedic assured her and she slowly nodded as she carefully took Naruto's hand in her own.

His face was pale and bloodied and he wasn't conscious anymore. She slowly moved a lock of bloodied hair out of his face before she just held his hand as the ambulance was started…….

The ride to the hospital wasn't one she really remembered later, only that Naruto had two cardiac arrests before they disappeared with him behind white doors, Sasuke in row.

The paramedic stopped her from following them and took her with him to a doctor who put her under examination and treated the few cuts on her body quickly.

He wrapped a supportive bandage around her ankle, saying the muscles were hurt but she just nodded to him, not really listening as her eyes kept darting to the doors where her friends had disappeared behind.

The doctor gave her a green outfit to wear and took her dirty clothes away before a nurse helped her sit in a chair near the white doors.

Hours passed in a blur before she was allowed to see Naruto. Upon entering the room she took a deep breath as she saw Naruto was covered in bruises. His lip was split and a cast was around his arm. The doctors told her his pelvic were broken and his shoulder dislocated but what hurt her the most was the haunted and broken look in his eyes. She knew what had caused that look and knew it would never disappear completely. All she could do was move to him and sit on the bed, carefully reaching out to his hand. Taking it when he didn't flinch away and squeeze it tightly.

She wasn't surprised when he grabbed a hold of her tightly not much later and cried against her shoulder. And all she could do was hold him as she knew no word could help what he was feeling right now.

She felt numb and cold, all feelings having left her like she had just over used them. And she knew it must be worse for Naruto, much worse.

All she could do was hold him and hold her tears in to be strong for him.

And that was what she did. When they were allowed to see Sasuke all she could do was hold Naruto's hand as she stood beside his wheelchair.

As they were allowed to look through the glass window at Sasuke's beaten form, bandages and casts covering every single part visible of his body and his face almost paler then the sheets even if it was covered in bruises and most of it was black and blue, at least the parts visible under the thick bandages that covered more then half of his face and were bloody at the side of his head.

When the doctor came to them much later to tell them they weren't allowed into the room out of fear of infections. When the doctor told them he had a collapsed lung, tore kidney and 167 bones were broken in his body under which his spine and it was actually more a count as to what bone wasn't broken all she could do was hold him.

In the days passing after the attack Naruto was moved to the room across Sasuke's so he could at least see him through the window whenever he wanted without being wheeled there.

Sakura didn't leave his side unless she had to.

The time was spend in silence, neither of them talking about what had happened as if it was all just a very bad dream they could wake up from every moment.

But they both knew it hadn't been when an infection still managed to get into Sasuke's brain six days after he had been admitted and he died after a total of eight days.

And as Naruto cried all she could do was hold him, feeling useless that she couldn't do more she held onto her blond friend, trying to take all the pain away that she could, to just wrap him in her arms and keep him shielded forever.

But she knew she couldn't protect him forever and it came to no surprise to her when Naruto was found dead in his room 64 days later, having overdosed on pain medication. A note at his side saying he was sorry.

Only then tears fell down her cheeks as she slid down against the wall, for the first time permitting her-self to let go and cry. Having no reason to be strong anymore….

The end

_A/N: __This story is based upon true events._

_my imouto-chan, dragondreamer99, wrote an amazing sequel to this story, called True strength. be sure to check this amazing story out :D_


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